How to Have a Hap, Hap, Hap-py Day

I got this book a few days ago and have been poring over it since then. It’s a very nice quality paperback, full-color, 64 pages. By clicking on the link in the paragraph above, you can go to Sharon Miller’s website and look at a few sample pages from the book.

The book is a combination of the history of hap shawls and patterns to knit hap shawls. It’s full of absolutely wonderful old photos, postcards, and other illustrations. You can see some of these by looking at the sample pages on the Heirloom Knitting website. Even if I never knit a thing from this book, the illustrations make it worth its weight in gold to me. I love old photos of knitting, and the ones in this book are particularly wonderful. In fact, I’ve been enjoying the illustrations so much, I’ve barely read any of the text. Every time I open it to read, I get distracted by the pictures. Eventually I’ll get to reading it. Honest.

I called in sick to work again today because I was really was not up to crawling in to the office this morning, but I do think, as of this afternoon, I’m getting better and might possibly live through this. Does anyone have any suggestion on how to unblock your ear that doesn’t involve permanent damage to one’s eardrum? Why do I ask? Oh, no reason.

My knitting mojo is still suffering, though. I am working on the second of the Apple Pie socks because knitting lace still seems too arduous. L-B posted in the comments to yesterday’s entry that she got the yarn at Wool-Tyme in Canada (note that prices are listed in Canadian dollars — there’s a link you can click to convert to U.S. dollars or Euros) and that she gives them high marks for excellent customer service.

L-B also mentioned to me that the socks she’s knitted from Apple Pie yarn are the softest and hardest-wearing socks she’s made — the mohair content makes them soft and the nylon and silk in the yarn make them wear like iron. Good to know, eh? I also like how the yarn doesn’t randomly stripe or pool when you knit it.

On another note, someone seems to like her brand new Cozy Cushion, does she not?

It took her approximately 3 seconds to make herself comfortable.

On yet another note, has any one of you ever heated a frozen burrito in a microwave and succeeded in getting the center thawed, and not have the filling ooze out of the ends? Or is that just one of those mysteries of the universe?

Comments

Next best thing to knitting is reading about knitting! Looks like a great book.

If you can tolerate it, pseudephedrine or phenylephrine (Over the counter decongestants) will help the swelling in the Eustachian tubes that makes your ear blocked. Me, I can’t take them at night, though; they rev me up too much. Or a nasal steroid spray can help. Mostly time and healing will do the trick….
This too shall pass. Be nice to yourself until it does.

Microwaving frozen burritos and not having the center ooze out the middle is a problem not unlike cooking a frozen blintz in a toaster oven. Jennifer has the right idea – just cut down the power and cook it longer.

And speaking of apple pie, shall I pick up an apple pie and some vanilla ice cream tomorrow?

I’ve heard that taking a special kind of syringe, one that doesn’t have a sharp pointy needle on the end, and using that to squirt some warm water into the ear can help blockages, but that’s usually for wax buildup. Decongestants do help, as Cathy-Cate mentioned. Since I have a case of permanently screwy sinuses, which messes up my ears, I have yet to find anything that helps permanently, though.

I’m glad Lucy likes her Cozy Cushion. 😀 She looks so cute curled up on it!

I second (third?) about the frozen burritos – lower power, cook it longer. And add some hot sauce so you burn your sinuses and no longer care if the middle is still frozen 🙂

And on the clogged ears, try those shower mist thingys they have out now. We’re almost through the flu/cold/living hell here too, hubby and I on the mend and only 3 of the 4 boys still feeling yucky. But the shower steam things really help clear out the sinuses, which is what is clogging up your ears to.

Also, Vicks Vaporub. Stuff it up your nose if you have to, but that stuff really does work.

Hope you’re feeling better! Not that Lucy seems to mind, so long as the catnip keep a’flowing.

In my house, the burritos for some reason have a tendancy to explode in the microwave. I think my 21 year old is impatient and sets it too high. My husband is also an excellent burrito exploder! So I’m not sure our methods would make you happy;)!

For the ear — heat sometimes helps — do you have one of those microwaveable heating pads for the back of your neck? They tend to help headaches and ear problems. (Or, maybe borrow Lucy and her new bed…)

If your ear stays plugged for a while, you might want to go to your doctor and see if he or she is willing to give you a steroid nasal spray. I had a severe cold this past summer and my ears were blocked for several days so I could barely hear. I was concerned that I might get an ear infection. That turned out not to be the case, but the swelling in the Eustachian tubes is probably the cause. (I just noticed the first comment did mention the steroid spray.) In my case, the spray began to work within a day–a real relief, since I don’t hear especially well even *without* blocked ears!

I need to get a Cozy Cushion for my Wilma, Lucy sure seems to love hers.

And I second L-B’s endorsement of Wool-Tyme. I bought some yarn from them last year and they were out of the color I wanted. A very nice lady actually took the time to call me at work to see if I wanted another color or did I want to wait until the color I had chosen was back in stock.

This sounds like a wonderful book. I’m glad you’re on the mend. For stuffy ears I would recommend the decongestant pseudoephedrine (not phenylephrine, and of course neither of these if you have high blood pressure). You must request this at the pharmacy counter, present id, have a government chip implanted, sign a register, and promise to not turn the decongestant into illegal drugs. Okay, so the process isn’t that bad, it just bothers me on many levels. I hope you feel well enough for lace soon.

It’s always nice when the felines like what we buy them. I almost bought my guys a new bed the other day, but then decided they probably wouldn’t use it. Maybe Lucy is sending me vibes to indulge my kitties.

Glad you are on the mend. Have you ever heard of a Netty (sp?) Pot? It was on an episode of “Six Feet Under”. I think it’s an old fashioned way to unblock nasal passages and maybe ears.

Sadly, nothing can help you in the ear-blockage department. A few months ago I had a combination sinus infection-upper respiratory infection-ear infection (yeah, it was way fun) and near the end of it my ear got blocked and wouldn’t unblock. For almost 3 weeks. I seriously thought I was suffering hearing loss in that ear. Eventually it will clear. You just gotta keep telling yourself that. 🙂

Mary wants one of those kitty pad thingies! (She only thinks she does – it is like 7000 degrees in my apartment in the winter and there’s nothing I can do about it.)

What a sweet kitty! I don’t think she will be spending as much time in your lap from now on.

To properly heat a burrito, you would have to put the microwave on a setting of 4 or 5, and cook it about 3 times longer than what the package recommends. Or, you could do what I do; heat it until the ends are warm, eat two bites from each end, and renuke the rest for 1-2 minutes.

And for stuffy heads, try heating up some dark soda in the microwave and slowly sip. It works quite well to relieve congestion, not completely sure what it will do for clogged ears. Worth a shot anyway. I know it sounds kinda disgusting, but it really isn’t that bad.

This OTC combination I read about several years ago works well for stuffy ears and/or upper respiratory congestion. You may already have these in your medicine cabinet:
Benedryl(diphenhydramine) 25-50 mg
Robitussin(Guaifenesin) 400 mg
Motrin(ibuprofin) 200-400 mg
Why these three? The antihistamine Benedryl will dry you out and possibly make you drowsy. No jitters like the pseudoephidrine. Guaifenesin will thin out the secretions so your eustachian tubes can drain. As an anti-inflammatory, ibuprofen will help reduce the swelling. Just be sure to drink a big glass of water or your favorite beverage with this combo to help protect your stomach from the ibuprofen. It’s a good idea anyway to increase your fluid intake when you have a respiratory infection.
And the usual disclaimer: I’m not an MD and this shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. Call your doctor if you don’t get better soon or start to feel worse. Take care. BTW, the socks are lovely and Lucy looks warm and content.

For ear aches my gram always used Sweet Oil (sold in little bottles – can find in drugstore, GNC etc). Warm the bottle in a pan of water & put a few drops in your ear. Some say heat from a hair dryer helps, or a heating pad. Hope you feel better soon!

I love Sharon’s book. I’m almost finished with my hap out of Ksh. It is in oatmeal and pinks with brown. I have a picture of the shawl about 1?3 of the way done on my blog. I’m now 7 rows from finishing!!

sudafed for your ears. using the neti pot won’t hurt either – its the tubes that are clogged – dontdontdontdont blow hard to pop your ears (although you didnt say that) i had ear surgery in fall 2005 and the FIRST LAST and all the time thing they said was “DON”T BLOW YOUR NOSE HARD”.

For me warm salt water up the nose works. I use a sinus irrigator tip that I got at the drugstore on my water pik. You can get a squirt bottle of saline solution OTC — OceanMist is a good brand. Hope you feel better! My ears were really clogged with the crud but the salt water helped. The Robitussin(Guaifenesin) 400 mg
mentioned above also helped and was recommended by my doc.

I used to get terrible ear infections and blockages all through childhood. I would often lie on side, with a dap, hot towel (steaming hot, if you can handle it) and let the heat do the work of draining. I also had ear drops that you could heat, but I doubt you could get such a thing OTC very easily. But the heat works! You can even put a regular towel over your pillow, steamy towel folded up on top, and lay your ear right on top. Feels pretty good!

I agree that Neti pots work great, for congestion. there is also a kit that you can buy at the drug store that squirts saline into your nose to irrigate it in the same (but less gentle) manner as a neti pot (it’s a whole box kit, not just nose spray). If it’s wax…buy the fizzy stuff you put in your ear and lie down for a million hours, until it works…

on the burrito front , having worked in a deli we left the burritos in the refridgerator to thaw then nuked them. on the ear front i would see the doc you could need a srpay or drops or just an irrigation of the ear. on the Lucy front i see she enjoys her new cushy. my Octavia has one curled into an old carrier and she sleeps there with it folded up around her. now i have to go to the pet store and replace another kitties pet fish. just being a good slave to my kitty masters.

For a tender ear canal, I’ve had good luck with sweet oil. It really is simply refined olive oil. Purchase it at the drug store (mine came with a dropper), warm it briefly in a glass of hot water, then put a couple of drops in the ear that hurts. Very soothing.

To unstop ears (and rest of head and sinuses), it will hurt like heck and sounds strange, but pour hot (not scalding but more than lukewarm) salt water up each nostril into the sinuses. Use a neti pot or I prefer the bulb syringe you use for sucking out baby noses. Then cough and sputter and blow all the junk that will come up into the bathroom sink. The virus will go away much, much faster and you will be able to breathe for a while.

L-B says Loopy Ewe is going to carry Apple Laine! It’s really beautiful. I checked their website to see who has it now. There is a note on Yarn Barn’s website that they have had a run on Apple Laine in the last 24 hours and they are down to just a few colors. I’ll just wait for Sheri to get it in. But you are pretty influential, lady! Just think only a month ago everyone was mad at you for making people stop buying yarn, and now you are responsible for a run on the Yarn Barn.

L-B says Loopy Ewe is going to carry Apple Laine! It’s really beautiful. I checked their website to see who has it now. There is a note on Yarn Barn’s website that they have had a run on Apple Laine in the last 24 hours and they are down to just a few colors. I’ll just wait for Sheri to get it in. But you are pretty influential, lady! Just think only a month ago everyone was mad at you for making people stop buying yarn, and now you are responsible for a run on the Yarn Barn.

My dad who suffers from horrible ear problems suggested actifed for ear woes. I hope you feel better soon. The kitty warmer looks very comfy, perhaps my Hobbes wouldn’t feel the need to get under the covers with me at night if I got him one.

It seems I get to be the first to suggest ear candling. It sounds bizarre, but they sale special candles at the health food store that are hollow on the bottom end. You light the wick and hold that end AWAY from your head and the other next to your ear. The heat creates a pressurized vacuum of sorts that not only cleans out the ear, but also the sinuses. Big help for us allergy/ asthma kids. If you’re weary of doing it yourself, many chiropractic offices provide the service. Feel better!

Love the vintage knitting reads, thanks for the recommendation. As for the burritos, I think they engineer them that way on pupose, but a trick that helps with tamales is to wrap the whole thing in a damp paper towel. The water from the paper towel heats up better than the food itself, and I think it might help things cook a bit more evenly.

I have a sock question for you also. I notice that you knit your socks toe up. Do you have a special way to bind off? Whenever I make toe up socks my bind off is always too tight. I bind off as loose as possible and have gone so far as to UNbind off and rebind off several times to try to get it as loose as possible. Any tips would be appreciated.

I don’t know about unplugging your ear but you need to get some Emergen-C to help get over the crud.It also helps not get the crud.I take it everyday and have yet to catch anything this cold and flu season.It works!Hope you feel better soon.

For swollen Eustacian tubes: I suffer from this regularly, esp. in allergy season or with a cold. I take some homeopathic (allergy) drops that contain “Drainage Remedies: Hydrastis 3x, Baptista 3x, Phytolacca 3x, Nasturtium 3x, Trigonella 3x, Commiphora 3x.” I have no idea what these things are, but the drops really help me. Made by Allergena. I get it at the local health food store; one of their most popular items they tell me.

So I go looking for “Apple Pie” and I end up at The Yarn Barn…and I find this note…

“Note (25 Jan 2007): We’ve had a run on this yarn in the last 24 hours and have started selling out of some colors. (Out of stock colors are removed from the website ASAP.) I will get more yarn ordered tonight and will put those colors online for pre-ordering, so orders can go out as soon as the yarn comes in.”

I usually get the refrigerated burritos over the frozen ones. The instructions say to wrap it in waxed paper, and that seems to work. The tortilla can stick to the paper, though, so be careful when unwrapping.

My doctor suggested good old steam inhalation for blocked ears, and some pharmacy medication you can buy to squirt up your nose called Beconase if it becomes chronic. Unhelpfully it’s probably called something different on your side of the Atlantic. Plus heat really helped to soothe the pain, along with Advil. I found a lying on a warm wheat bag to be the best thing.

Wendy, My husband was one of those wonderful old family practice docs that really knew his stuff. He would tell you, 1/2 tsp salt in 8ounces of water as warm as you can take it. Gargle every hour for how long it takes.

My JJ loved her “cozy cushion” (she passed away a few days after Thanksgiving at 24 years of age).I would show her pics of the kitty stroller in Dr. Foster/Smith but she seemed uninterested. The water fountain usually got a sniff of interest though.
Hope you’re feeling better soon.

I’ve suffered from sincus & ear problems for years. I vote for the neti pot using very warm salt water (my doc says 1/2teaspoon table salt to 1 cup water). That combined with the three OTC drug combination suggested by Helen should do the job. I agree with the comment on DON”T BLOW YOUR NOSE HARD. This can cause tons of problems.

If you don’t have a neti pot or know what one is, it’s like a very small teapot with a long spout that you stuff into one nostril and pour the water through so it comes out the other. It sounds really gross but works far better than any other method I’ve tried for irrigating sinuses. You can probably get one at your local health food store or yoga center. I know Whole Foods carries them.

Now I have a knitting question for you. In your experience as a sock knitter which brands or fiber blends hold up best? It seems most sock yarns are roughly 70-80% wool and the remainder nylon. I know that all wools are not the same and its really hard to find out what sort of sheep supply the yarn for the big manufacturers. I’ve noticed my first pair of socks (made from sock yarn from a national brand) are already shwowing signs of wear after only three wearing so I’m a bit disappointed.

Glad you are starting to feel better. Sounds like whatever you had was horrible! Lucy looks comfy!

You are killing me with your tempting descriptions of the sock yarn. STOP!

I’m trying so hard not to buy yarn for awhile. I have baskets filled of yarn at home (soooo pretty!!) and I really should use that up (at least some of it anyway) before I add more to the pile.

I received my chartkeeper yesterday from Knitpicks as well as some “Classic” circulars. I absolutely love the chartkeeper. Only $10 and such quality! I am so impressed. I have not had a chance to knit with the circulars but the points look so, well, pointy!! I’m sure I’m going to love them.

As another ear sufferer I second (fourth) many of the suggestions. The key is to reduce the congestion in the sinuses so the ears can clear. Believe it or not drinking a gallon of water a day really helps, but is hard to do if you can’t take many, many potty breaks…

I haven’t updated my blog in ages so don’t bother checking.
Just an interesting story. Wool-Tyme, located in Ottawa or just outside Ottawa, Ontario, used to be called WoolMart. That was several years ago, I think in the late 80’s..as WalMart and the boys came to town they began to send threatening letters to the owner of the knitting shop, asking her to cease and desist using that name because of its similarity to their name!!;in spite of the fact that the knitting shop had been in existence in that area for many years PRIOR to WalMart coming to Canada. Needless to say the dollars required to fight their nasty legal intrusion, made it impossible to do nothing but change the name of her business.
Sad but true, glad to know her outstanding customer service hasn’t changed in spite of all of that. The shop is a great place to spend your yarn dollars either in person or on line.

As to feeling better, I have used the ear candles with great success in the past for clogged ears. It can be tricky to do by yourself though, so be sure you have someone there to help you. Other than that, chicken soup or won ton soup seem to help get over the worst colds/flus.

How to unblock an ear:
Heat a pot of water to boiling (get that steam going!), take it off the stove and add a fingerfull (or so – play with the amount) of Vick’s Vapor Rub. Then, with a towel covering your head, lean over the steamy, vapory pot and slowly breath in through your nose.

My boss had a terrible head cold and had to do this several times throughout an evening, but both ears came unblocked and her sinuses greatly improved! She was so happy that she could hear and smell again.

Wendy, alskling, even when you’ve got the crud you tempt us with danged irresistable sock yarn. I just got some Tiny Toes and now will have to go order me some Apple Pie and no doubt in several colors. All of this is made even more silly by virtue of the fact that I’m currently living in southern California where it’s too danged hot for wool socks (or much else) about ten months of the year. Fooey.

BTW, I just this morning completed my first pair of official Wendy Feather & Fan socks – in Regia Silk, which was a Christmas gift. It knits up very nicely, but I sure wish they had better colors.

I’m with everyone who recommended pseudoephedrine. I had a bad ear blockage years ago – deaf as a post, and it really impaired my social interaction. Went to see a nutty doctor who prescribed pseudoephedrine, and told me to take it at night, since it would make me “really tired”. I did, and instead went on a horrible speed jag, and wondered at anyone who takes it for fun.

Went to see a better doctor, who told me to cut the dose in half but to continue to take it to open up my ears. I did. It worked.

I am completely worthless. I can’t help you on the ear thing or the burrito thing. Sorry. I can tell you the sock looks great and that Lucy is adorable, but you already knew all that. I hope you feel like yourself soon.

I am NO doctor – so if you try this and it doesn’t work or makes it worse, um, then I am totally not responsible! 🙂

But, my ear drums get blocked a lot – especially around allergy time. A doctor years ago told me to take a bit of hyrdogen peroxide and a bit of water – mix it in the cap, and let it do it’s thing in your ear (it cleans away the wax and goock) and then wash it out. You can buy the kits at CVS – which is probably safer than my home chemistry – I think it’s called an ear irrigator. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it just blocks my ear more – it’s really just a crap shoot

Wendy you are totally doing bad things for my self control with all these wonderful, delicious yarn descriptions!! I hope Apple Laine sends you lots of free Apple Pie for all the business you must be giving them!! As hard as I am trying to resist, I am going to have to give in and get some…my husband will just be thrilled…

I’m so sorry about your ears. I’m just recovering from what you’ve had. It took more than two weeks for the pressure to stop hurting. (It’s week four and I can still pop them by yawning.) Decongestant helps. So does the steamy towel on the sinuses and ears. BEWARE. You can steam burn your face and not know it until the next day when you turn red. Get well soon.

The only luck i ever have with ‘perfectly’ cooked microwave food is by letting it defrost some. I realize this removes the whole convenience of freezer-to-microwave satisfaction, but I find it’s the best method for me. If i’m bringing a frozen whatever to work for lunch, i take it from the freezer in the a.m., stick it in my bag, and just leave out on my desk until I heat it for lunch. If it’s for dinner, I usually eat about an hour or so after I get home, so I’ll take something out as soon as i get home.

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